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Click here to see previous Year in Review surveys. 2012: In The Beginning Where did you bring in the New Year? At home Who were you with? Mike, Bella, Mary, Mom and Dad. Also, Leo and Adrienne stopped by. Did you make any resolutions? " To start being truly thankful. To exercise more. To touch my toes." Guess what? I still can't touch my toes. I know you all are incredibly shocked. I did exercise more--some. And I never got far in my thankful journal... 2012: Your Love Life Did you break up with anyone? Nope! Did you get anything for Valentine's day? To be honest, I don't remember much about VD except that we went to the Trappe Door for lunch and I learned that I had won a seat in the SposaBella BE BETTER workshop series. Did you meet anyone special? Not romantically. This is dumb. This answer will never change. Did you fall in love? With two special chickens: Peggy & Joan. 2012: Friends and Enemies Did you meet any new friends this year? I mak

You GUYS. Look at what my brother gave me for Christmas! My own Japanese Juniper Bonsai!!! I've been kind of wanting one since we went to the Bonsai exhibit at the Asheville Arboretum. I just freaked out when I saw this and immediate went home to do more bonsai research. Turns out, there is a bonsai nursery just a few minutes from where I live where a bonsai club meets monthly. Very providential and I hope to visit and get some advice from experts. I am so excited about this little guy! I named him Ryo which, according to www.baby-names.com, is Japanese for exceed, survive, excel. I'm hoping my Ryo lives up to his name!

I've had a wonderful past few days. I went to MI for Christmas and it started snowing somewhere around Kentucky. It never got higher than 35º our entire trip and there was a snowstorm on the day after Christmas! On Christmas Eve, we visited Frankenmuth. I specifically wanted to visit Bronner's for a 2012 Christmas ornament. I ended up getting a flamboyant chicken ornament for our yearly one and a little camera ornament just because. :) We also stopped by Rau's Country Store and tried on silly hats. Christmas morning was a lazy one. I got some really fabulous presents, my favorite was my birthday/Christmas present from Mike: this Kate Spade Mrs. necklace! I got him a kit from The Art of Shaving to go along with the straight razor that Kevin got him. We were watching TV where they said the key to the best present-opening reactions is getting people exactly what the asked for. Turns out that's right because we were both very excited about our g

I'm not really good at summing up novels. If you wanted a good review, there are a plethora of them . I checked this book out from my library because it was ranked as most popular in the YA section. Also, it was my first time checking out books for my Nook and I just wanted to populate my shelves. To say that I was pleasantly surprised is putting it mildly. Oh my gosh, I read this thing constantly and finished it in about two days. I really really liked this book. There are monsters in it...and the monsters don't exactly mix with this scaredy cat. Which basically means that, that one night when Mike was at a friend's house and I stayed up late finishing this book? Yeah, I totally had to sleep with the light on. Oh, and this story is based of real photographs that were collected by the author. These photographs are peppered throughout the book, which I rather liked. Some of you may know that I am rather easily amused. Well, this book doesn't get the bes

[ source ] The e.l.f. Essential Mechanical Eyelash Curler  is one of the most rated eyelash curlers on  MakeupAlley  (my go-to site for reading reviews on any beauty aisle products). Only the Shu Uemura and the Shiseido eyelash curlers have been reviewed more. The Shu Uemura has 2009 reviews with an average rating of 4.2/5. ($20) The Shiseido has 1026 reviews with an average rating of 4.5/5. ($19) The e.l.f. has 680 reviews with an average rating of 3.9/5. ($1) Yes, really. The e.l.f. eyelash curler only costs $1! Well, that makes it look like a pretty good deal. And really, if the gals on MakeupAlley love it, it must be good. Also, my favorite YouTube Guru, emilynoel83, loves it. Also, I'm a pretty big fan of almost all things e.l.f. So, really, this must be a fantastic product. Guess what? I hate this eyelash curler. For whatever reason, it doesn't work for me. It doesn't even do an OK job for me. It barely curls my lashes at all. And that barely-t

I don't usually mention large events on this blog. I don't have any statements to make, political or otherwise, but I just don't feel like this is something that can go by without me recognizing it. I don't really know what to say about what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I didn't hear about it until late that evening because I had been away from media just about all day and my husband told me about it that evening. Disbelief and speechlessness. Overwhelming confusion and sadness. It didn't make sense to me then, and it still doesn't make sense to me. I am so heartbroken for the families and loved ones that lost someone last Friday. My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Newton, CT.

So, I recently learned that my little camera does this really cool thing where it takes a little bit of video with each picture you take. I remember reading about that feature when I first got the camera, but didn't really understand what that meant. Now I think it's the best feature of my little camera! Also, since Stargirl left Facebook, I have a few things for her...

I really wanted to have a party on my 28th birthday because it fell on 12/12/12. But I also didn't want to plan it. But I'm also a control freak sometimes. So, this was difficult. Eventually, I promised Mike that I wouldn't say anything else about it. Then, I told him that if I was to have a party, I'd want family, Anne Marie & Steven. Then I learned that Dad was planning something for Sunday following my birthday. And THEN I stopped talking about it. I knew that my dad was planning a birthday shin-dig because he asked me about my availability. Despite my wishes for a 12/12/12 birthday party, I was pretty sure that would be it. Maybe Mike and I might have a nice dinner together at home. Since I had pre-birthday shopping, post-birthday party, and a very very busy husband (with work, community, church, etc), I was quite content with that. On my birthday, I called Mike on my way home from work. Our usual conversation is, "Hey, so, what do you want f

[ source ] [ source ] [ source ] [ source ] I've never been the biggest fan of green. In fact, I don't think I have hardly any green. I have no green makeup, no green clothes, and no decent green nail polishes. But after hearing that Emerald was the 2013 Pantone Color of the Year, I started looking around and now I'm thinking that it might not be so bad! (Just for the record, I have some of that Sephora waterproof jumbo eyeliner and it is boss.)

Happy Birthday, Stargirl! I just couldn't help myself. ^_^ If you think I'm being offensive, you don't know our dynamic well enough. Stargirl came down today so we could do some pre-birthday shopping. Unfortunately, our birthday this year falls on the same day we were born, a Wednesday. Since we don't live in the kind of society that gives you several days off just because it is your birthday, we have to celebrate on days that are not our birthday. Which is fine, really, because it makes your birthday last longer. :)  Our day started off at Target where I had to take this picture. Again with the belted jeans? What is this, JCPenney circa 2002-2003? We wandered around positively swooning over the Neiman Marcus + Target line and searched for the perfect backpack for moi . We also went to the terrible terrible shopping center that is Greenridge. I'd avoid it, but its home to the only Off Broadway, Charming Charlie, and Ulta in town. So, unav